PROBLEMS FACING MALAYSIA'S BUILDING INDUSTRY
By C. K. San, FIOB, AIAA, MRSH, AMBIM
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Na rapidly developing nation like Malaysia there is an urgent need for more hospitals, schools, commu- nity centres, colleges and universities. Housing is required for a growing population and to re-house slum dwellers in many towns and villages. And more and more factory buildings are needed to keep pace with a big industrialisation programme.
But how is the building industry. whose present output is far below de- mand, to cope with such a gigantic load?
If its progress is held back. it would mean an admission that the nation cannot advance. However, if the targets are to be achieved all the resources of the building industry will be called upon and the goodwill and collaboration of the country will be required to combat the various problems.
As in other countries, the biggest problem is land. A bigger housing programme depends on more land being made available for both pri- vate and public housing.
In many of the major towns throughout Malaysia the shortage of
facilities to certain areas has reduced to a great extent the availability of land. Sometimes when land is avail- able and suitable for housing, squat- ters are a problem, with which the Government's existing legislation inadequate to deal.
New Legislation
is
These facts, coupled with the quantity of red-tape, which any housing development has to struggle through, render fast progress in the industry out of the question. Such problems are the responsibilities of the Government and local planning authorities, but how they are to be re- medied without more legislation is not clear. It may be surprising for many to lean that the value of land in Sandakan town centre is compar- able to, and in some cases, higher than that of Singapore.
Sundry new legislation is planned to affect certain States. To some cer- tain extent this legislation will ham- per the growth of the building indus- try, which will in turn affect the in- vestment level of private enterprise. Let us take an example. Develop- ment charges were imposed more than ten years ago in the UK, and when this proved to have retarded the
Far East Architect & Builder June, 1965
country's economic progress consid erably, they were withdrawn. Surely our country should not make such a similar mistake.
In spite of the Singapore Housing and Development Board doing a fine job on low cost housing programmes, catering for the lower income group during the past few years, the classic signs of overstrain are showing them- selves shortage of skilled labour and materials.
Το overcome this problem We must ensure more use of prefabricat- ed methods of construction for this low-cost housing if we are to keep pace with similar programmes in other States. We must have proper training for this type of construction.
Research
Building consumes more than half of the annual gross capital invest- ment of this country. It employs about one in ten of the nation's working population. ment of money on research in this field is at the bottom of the list of
priorities.
Yet the invest-
Limited sponsorship of scientific research comes from some materials manufacturers, but our industry as a whole remains stubbornly obstinate as far as scientific research is con- cerned. It is imperative that we look to a greatly enlarged research effort, coupled with an advisory information service to help get new ideas and quickly put them 10 use. It is amazing what can be done in this way. Our rubber industry is a good example, for it is now the most ef- ficient in the world.
How is research to be financed on a profitable basis? Contractors have been unwilling to sink money into research that might never be used by designers. All applied research must show a profit eventually, and at the moment in building it is only the clients, the public, who can fully pro- fit from such research.
Therefore, the guardians of the public, the Government must take the initiative and give full support to the pressing need for research.
The setting up of a building re- search centre is our immediate need, and this should be carried out by the Government with full support from designers, builders, specialists, manufacturers, trade organisations, institutions, universities and the Poly-
technic.
The building research centre would offer expert
technical advice about the latest method of construction and the use of new plant and materials. The contractor would be guided to better all round management and more efficient planning of building projects. It could recommend the formulation of more realistic and flexible by-laws or regulations and
the method of their enforcement. In fact, the services such a building re- search centre could offer are limit- less.
At present, there is generally a severe shortage of skilled workers. This is particularly true in the East Coast States and Sarawak, and in Sabah the situation is getting out of hand.
In the past, in Sarawak and Sabah, building contractors imported' many skilled workers from Hong Kong, but since the formation of Malaysia, our policy is to recruit more from our sister states of Singapore and Malaya.
However, there are certain restric- tions, and the situation created is such that when any workers are ap- proached and asked whether they would like to go to Sabah or Sara- wak, they are in a position to de- mand, and some of the demands made are quite fantastic. To im- prove the situation it would be neces- sary to lift some of the restrictions and to allow a free flow of skilled workers to these States.
Recruitment
The free movement of skilled workers within Malaysia will solve part of our problem, but we must look ahead and aim not only at quantity but also at quality. This means the recruitment of young men of the right calibre. We must admit that the building industry fails to obtain a fair share of school leavers or the graduates of technical in- stitutions.
This is largely due to the fact that "building" is not particularly attrac tive as а status symbol for the youngsters who prefer white-collar jobs in air-conditioned rooms. Con- siderable research is necessary into the problems of improving the status of building workers and giving the industry a better public image. Publicity through television. films,